Firms in market economies vary enormously in size, nature and competitiveness. In this important contribution to the literature on the theory of the firm, Mario Morroni provides a fresh analytical framework which improves our understanding of the causes of this diversity in organisational design and performance. The relations between internal and external basic conditions, decision-making mechanisms and organisational co-ordination are addressed, as are the circumstances in which capabilities, transactions and scale-scope considerations interact. With the emergence of the knowledge-based economy and the increasing pressure of global competition, the development of capabilities is acquiring ever greater importance in boosting competitiveness. Morroni shows that long-term relational agreements enhance learning processes and offer powerful tools for improving competitiveness in a context of conflicting interests, incomplete knowledge and uncertainty.

An important fresh theoretical framework for examining the key influences on the competitiveness of firms.

The Theory of the Firm presents an innovative general analysis of the economics of the firm.

The Oxford Handbook of the Corporation assesses the contemporary relevance, purpose, and performance of the corporation. The corporation is one of the most significant, if contested, innovations in human history, and the direction and effectiveness of corporate law, corporate governance, and corporate performance are being challenged as never before. Continuously evolving, the corporation as the primary instrument for wealth generation in contemporary economies demands frequent assessment and reinterpretation. The focus of this work is the transformative impact of innovation and change upon corporate structure, purpose, and operation. Corporate innovation is at the heart of the value-creation process in increasingly internationalized and competitive market economies, and corporations today are embedded in a world of complex global supply chains and rising state and state-directed capitalism. In questioning the fundamental purpose and performance of the corporation, this Handbook continues a tradition commenced by Berle and Means, and contributed to by generations of business scholars. What is the corporation and what is it becoming? How do we define its form and purpose and how are these changing? To whom is the corporation responsible, and who should judge the ultimate performance of corporations? By investigating the origins, development, strategies, and theories of corporations, this volume addresses such questions to provide a richer theoretical account of the corporation and its contested future.

The Theory of the Firm is commonly viewed as axiomatic by business school academicians. Considerations in spanning organizational structures, their boundaries and roles, as well as business strategies all relate to the Theory of the Firm. The dominant Theory of the Firm poses that markets act perfectly to maximize the well- being of society when people act to maximize the personal utility of their individual purchases and firms act to maximize financial returns to their owners. However, burgeoning evidence and discourse across the scientific and policy communities suggests that the economic, social, and environmental consequences of accepting and applying this theory in the organization of business and society threaten the survival of the human species, among countless others. This book provides the latest thinking on alternatives to the Theory of the Firm as cornerstone of managerial decision-making. Authors explore and elucidate theories that help us understand a firm differently and suggest alternatives to the Theory of the Firm. This book will be of value to researchers, academics, practitioners, and students interested in leadership, strategic management, and the intersection of corporate interests and the well-being of the society.

Business firms are ubiquitous in modern society, but an appreciation of how they are formed and for what purposes requires an understanding of their legal foundations. This book provides a scholarly and yet accessible introduction to the legal framework of modern business enterprises. It explains how the legal ideas allow for the construction and recognition of business firms as persons having rights and responsibilities. It also shows how law sets the boundariesof firms. Specific applications include contributions to debates about executive compensation and political free-speech rights of corporations. Anyone who wishes to have a deeper understanding of thenature of business firms and their role in modern society will benefit from reading this book.

In this reputable book Professor Morroni has constructed an insightful framework of three decisive factors for organizational coordination: capabilities, transaction, scale-scope. Based on these, he has knitted a splendid tapestry of theoretical and empirical information. This collection must be a standard for the theory of the firm. Yuji Aruka, Chuo University, Japan Organisations, networks and firms are three of the most dynamic areas of economic research. This timely book synthesises these areas in order to analyse emergent phenomena such as spatial clustering, outsourcing, relational complexity and radical technological innovation. A combination of authoritative literature reviews, novel theoretical developments and interesting case study applications makes this book essential reading for both new and established scholars in the field. Mark Casson, University of Reading, UK In recent years, applied studies have shown widespread, profound and increasing heterogeneity across firms in terms of their strategy, organization arrangement and performance. This book investigates the diversity of business firms, offering a picture of the different organizational settings they adopt in their endeavour to cope with increasing competitive pressure. The book addresses critical theoretical issues surrounding corporate governance, organizational design and cooperative relations among firms. Moreover, it provides new evidence on the various forms of outsourcing that are playing an increasingly important role as a consequence of globalization. The contributions collected in this book stress the emergence of a trend towards a reorganization of production that can enhance the transmission, development and maintenance of knowledge in order to sustain long-run competitive advantage. Providing original and pertinent empirical evidence, this book will attract interest from scholars and postgraduate students studying the economics and organization of the firm. It will also be of value to managers who wish to understand new developments in the organizational settings of business firms with particular reference to corporate governance, organizational design, cooperative relations, outsourcing and de-localization.